Chapter Eleven: The Trip to Los Angeles

  Jester's plan to sell his arcade machine featuring "America's Block" didn't get off to a great start in Los Angeles.

  The owners of the first two arcade halls heard Jester's intention and ridiculed him as a madman who had lost his mind, saying that a 19-year-old kid knew nothing about making games, and then they were directly kicked out with insults.

  This made Jest, who had thought the plan was foolproof, rather disheartened.

  Because he calculated everything, thinking of all possibilities, but didn't think that the other side might not even look at the content of the game and make a conclusion.

  But there is an old saying: Disaster lurks in the depths of good fortune.

  When he found a third home, an arcade called "Jedi's Home" near Baldwin Park on West Covina Street, he was welcomed with open arms by the owner.

  This feeling made Jester feel like he was some kind of superstar being recognized by enthusiastic fans.

  Jester, still not understanding the situation, asked carefully and found out that a few days ago, the owner of this game store, Jedy Spark, visited his friend's house in Costa Mesa, heard about the popularity of "American Blocks" after listening to it, and went to try it out. I didn't expect to be deeply attracted by this game at once, and became a die-hard fan of this game.

  He originally planned to buy a few of these arcade machines called "American Block" after returning to Los Angeles, not only because he particularly liked them but also as a professional arcade operator and a veteran electronic game player in this era.

  Add an arcade game store owner who also undoubtedly saw the huge business opportunities in Tetris.

  He thought that if he could be the first to introduce this game in Los Angeles, he would definitely make a lot of money. As far as he knew, he hadn't heard of any arcade game store in Los Angeles having this game.

  Such a popular game is like fireflies in the dark night, it can't be hidden at all. Once released, it will inevitably cause a sensation.

  But the problem is that when he returned to Los Angeles and inquired with Schwel, the company he had always ordered from, he found out that there was no such arcade game as "American Block" within the company.

  This reply shocked him. Didn't the game's creator let Schwel, California's largest entertainment equipment sales company, sell it on their behalf?

  This can't be!

  He thought of this and quickly contacted several other sales companies, and the feedback was exactly the same. They didn't have a street machine product called "American Block".

  But that didn't deter Jedy Spark, who decided to go back to Costa Mesa and ask the supermarket owner with five Asteroids machines exactly where he got such a great game from.

  Unexpectedly, Jester actually delivered himself to the door.

  When people are about to fall asleep, someone immediately brings a pillow.

  What is called a long drought encountering sweet rain? What is called meeting old friends in a foreign land?

  That's it.

  So Jester received a very warm welcome from Jeddy Spark, especially when he heard why those big distributors didn't stock up quickly, and he immediately burst into scolding, that group of distributors was really a group of blind people.

  Of course, when he heard Jester say a $5,000 and pay in full in advance, his eyes rolled back, the expression on his face was like eating flies, and the gaze towards Jester was the same as looking at an idiot, but fortunately, he still wanted to buy the arcade machine from Jester, without any obvious leakage.

  Jester didn't think much of it either. He now realized that the price he had given was indeed very exploitative for a designer with no reputation like him.

  It is impossible for any sales company to agree with his quotation.

  But he didn't regret it at all, because "America" was worth the price, and he had never sold gold cheaply to let others take advantage of him.

  Things went even smoother than Jester had anticipated, and Jeddy Spiegel didn't even need to do the three-day test run to see how the game would do, since he'd seen firsthand just how hot it was in Costa Mesa. He immediately greenlit the purchase of all five machines, and promised that several friends of his who also owned street locations would definitely take Pong as well.

  However, he also asked if the price could be cheaper. For example, $3,000 is already a very high price in the market, and a single machine for $5,000 is really too expensive.

  Jester smiled after listening and then firmly refused the other party's request.

  He had said before that "America's Square" was worth the price, he would never sell gold cheaply and he didn't need others to promote it.

  But Jester also made a special statement that this time the price of $5,000 is a friendly price, and when this game becomes popular, it will not be just this price.

  After hearing that Jester had no intention of lowering his price, Jeddy Spikes reluctantly agreed.

  After handing over the five machines to Jed Spingarn and getting a total of $25,000, Jester didn't go back directly. Although time was very tight for him now and he had many things to do, such as developing the next game, etc., but on the other hand, he wasn't short of this little bit of time either.

  Juster had never been to Los Angeles before and didn't know how charming this city, known as the most beautiful on the West Coast, was. It could also be said that he wanted to make up for his regret in his previous life, so Jester decided to take a good tour around. Moreover, he also wanted to visit his alma mater in this world, University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA, a name that shone brightly in the global university rankings, which was a world-class school that Juster could only admire from afar when he was still Li Ming and couldn't attend.

  He also yearned for the blue bear statue of UC countless times in his previous life, and unexpectedly, after his rebirth, he became a student of UC.

  It can also be said that he has fulfilled his dream of another world in a different way.

  Los Angeles is the largest city in California and the second-largest metropolitan area in the United States. In 1769, Spanish explorers entered a natural harbor along a river they named "River of the Queen of Angels" while searching for Monterey Bay; 12 years later, 12 Spanish families settled there; after several years, they named it "City of Angels".

  That's the origin of Los Angeles' City of Angels.

  To be honest, if you don't have time, Los Angeles is not a good place to visit because there are many iconic and classic attractions here, from east to west, from south to north, spanning a huge distance.

  Missing out on either one would make a trip to Los Angeles feel incomplete.

  Don't believe me? I can rattle off a dozen or so names of famous spots in Los Angeles that are swarmed with fans.

  Walk of Fame, China Theatre, Madame Tussauds, Griffith Observatory, Disney Concert Hall, Grammy Museum, Staples Center, Getty Center, Venice Beach, Santa Monica State Beach, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Universal Studios Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard...

  Do you need anything else?

  Jester wanted to go to many places, but he didn't have enough time and could only choose his most desired place, the Sunset Boulevard, the others would have to wait for next time.

  Fortunately, after waiting for a while, he plans to return to Los Angeles, so he can revisit and make up for the regret.

  He returned to Los Angeles not because school started, but this year due to the Los Angeles Olympics, many of the school's dormitories will be lent out for use by delegations from various countries, and the school's vacation has also been extended by almost a month.

  But his grandfather is preparing to organize some gatherings of Chinese people on the West Coast, and when the Olympics come, he hopes to get together to cheer for the Chinese delegation.

  This is a good thing, and it's also an inevitable one. Moreover, at this Olympic Games, Xu Haifeng shot down China's first gold medal, and the March of the Volunteers was played for the first time on the top of Olympus.

  Jester also agreed without hesitation to witness this historic moment for his grandfather and promised to attend at that time.

  Time seemed unable to take anything away from here, Jester stood on the street of Sunset Boulevard, having seen photos of it in later generations, and suddenly had this sigh.

  Sunset Boulevard in the 1980s was as prosperous as it would be thirty years later, with cars and horses galloping, people flowing like a brocade, and bustling with noise.

  The entire Sunset Boulevard is very long. This famous street passes through Echo Park, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills, Bel Air Estates, Brentwood and Pacific Palisades.

  It runs from Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles to Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in Malibu. The street has become a cultural icon of Hollywood glamour, synonymous with the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

  After Jester was reborn into this world, he had always been in that small town of Costa Mesa, where tranquility and quietness were the characteristics. He hadn't felt the hustle and bustle of an international metropolis yet, but when he was in Los Angeles, sitting on a sightseeing bus touring Sunset Boulevard, he truly felt it.

  Although he looked at the street's cars, billboards, people's clothing, language, store decorations and so on, they all had a strange, as if traversing time and space-like feeling. Compared to the scenes in his mind 30 years later, it was like an old photo in a movie, with a strong sense of historical accumulation.

  It seems that history is no longer an abstract concept in front of him, but a real existence.

  It was just like that, sitting on the bus, sightseeing the most prosperous and famous Sunset Boulevard on the West Coast in 1984, although such a tour could not appreciate the charm of this place.

  Jester's eyes gazed at the outside scenery, but deep down inside, it was like a stormy sea, with waves surging up.

  For the first time, after his rebirth, an idea that he had never thought of before emerged. Although he had also made a pirated version of Tetris and planned to make a Super Mario World ahead of schedule, even wanting to create his own game empire... but it seemed that what he was doing was just following in the footsteps of history, repeating what had already happened, like playing a simulation game of history.

  But at this moment, right here, he clearly realized that this was a real, living world.

  This is an entirely different era, there is no history here, just the future.

  He slightly tilted his head upwards, facing the sky. The gentle breeze brushed against his face, and even on a sweltering summer day, it brought him a refreshing coolness.

  Jester's eyes were slightly closed, and his two hands were tightly clenched into fists.

  This is Jester Lee's brand new era.